Our guest will be Dr. Alan Dappen from Doctokr Family Medicine in Virginia. It's no secret that the American health care system is broken - Duh! This fact has challenged the medicine establishment to become innovative in coming up with ideas to better deliver health care in this country. Among his credentials include being awarded the 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year by his chamber of commerce.

In this model, Dr. Dappen is available to his patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, via phone, e-mail and in person. You can schedule an office visit or he can make a house call and come to you. He utilizes technology like electronic medical records and internet access to deliver care. He was even interviewed on ABC's Good Morning America.

What's the catch, people ask? Well, the cost of this model of health care mostly comes out of the patient's pocket. Insurance? Dr. Dappen's practice does not submit claims to insurance companies. On the website, patients are given the details on how to submit claims to their own insurance company, thereby decreasing office overhead.

Critics of this model call it concierge medicine elitist and country club medicine. Something that everyone knows is that the current American Health Care Delivery System is on it's way to total collapse - the question is just when. This should be a thought provoking show, so you can't miss it!

1 comment:

Concierge medicine is neither "elitist" nor "country club medicine." It is a rational, patient-driven response to our current broken health care system.

I opened one of the first concierge practices in the country 8 years ago. I've just authored the first book on the subject, "Concierge Medicine; A New System to Get the Best Healthcare" (Greenwood/Praeger, 2008). In that book, I not only discuss the ins and outs of CM, but I also address the ethical issues head on.